View Full Version : Have HA fears ever come true? How did you cope?
marissav1.0
05-09-16, 23:47
I was wondering if anyone with HA who posts on here has ever actually had cancer or a serious disease/illness, and how did you cope with it?
elysemarie123
05-09-16, 23:55
Hello -- I definitely did not. Just goes to show you. I like to think that since we are all so in tune with our bodies, if something did happen our chances would be great because we would get help right away.
Same question... (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=188188)
Positive thoughts
It could happen. And if it does, you will cope.
Cancer is not an ipso facto death sentence. I had cancer--twice; I know a few others on this board have had cancer too. If you accept that if you get cancer, IF, you will cope and survive, maybe your HA won’t control you.
My father died when I was twelve from an aneurysm I constantly think I'm going to as well please anyone have any tips on how to control this its ruining my life
It could happen. And if it does, you will cope.
That's the answer right there. If or when push comes to shove, you'll deal with it. What other choice do you have?
Positive thoughts
That's the answer right there. If or when push comes to shove, you'll deal with it. What other choice do you have?
Positive thoughts
Agreed, the one time something serious was wrong with me (a serious case of bacterial meningitis) I coped and fortunately got through it - you just get on with it as you're not given an option.
I know this won't be the case for everyone, but my HA seems more fear of uncertainty, of whether I'm doing the wrong thing by ignoring something, or whether I'm stupid if I go to the doctor's, and almost getting a "blue screen of death" in my mind because while it's happening I panic as I see so many possible outcomes that I temporary can't picture the future because I don't know how this new panic is going to play out (even though when logic seeps in I know it'll 99.9% pan out with everything being OK). While it's happening I start finding it hard to make plans, or get excited by things coming up in the near future in case what I'm worried about happens. But it's weird because the actual hard reality of having "illness X" rarely crosses my mind. I hope that makes sense...
Although there are some excellent stickies on the Health Anxiety board, it might be helpful to have a sticky for the very small number of people who have actually been diagnosed with the illness they feared, and how they dealt with it.
Although there are some excellent stickies on the Health Anxiety board, it might be helpful to have a sticky for the very small number of people who have actually been diagnosed with the illness they feared, and how they dealt with it.
IMO, that would be a trigger for many. I know of two from this forum that have dealt with their fears. Both said the same thing. It's a whole 'nother ball game and the focus shifts from worry about the future and unknowns to the task at hand and dealing with the "here and now" as opposed to the "what ifs". In both cases, the person dealt with it and their anxiety took a back seat and also in both cases, their anxiety remained there and the experience has given them a different perspective and actually helped them heal mentally as well as physically.
Positive thoughts
I could imagine the "what if that happened to me?" scenario taking over the thread of the recently diagnosed member and that would defeat the object of the thread ie to support the HA sufferer diagnosed with the physical illness they feared.
It could happen. And if it does, you will cope.
Couldn't agree more! It's only happened to me once, ironically one of the times I was actually managing the HA really well :weep: It resulted in a 3 night hospital stay but the long term impact is that I actually manage the "worst case scenario" fears much better now. Rather than telling myself "it's probably not what I fear", I tell myself "it's probably not what I fear, and in the remote case that it is, I'll deal with it by taking X, Y and Z steps". That has been a really helpful thought, backed up by real world experience!
marissav1.0
06-09-16, 23:53
Thanks for the replies. The thing that brought this question on, is it's almost yearly check up time. I get worked up thinking they will see something wrong with my bloodwork. The other day I noticed a lump under my arm. Chances are it isn't serious, but I assume the worst (lymphoma, breast cancer, etc). I don't even want to go to the dr, but I know it's the smart thing to do.
I never had HA until I had kids. Now I'm terrified my husband and I will die and our kids will grow up never knowing us or having their biological parents around. :weep:
Never! But why can't you convince yourself that this time is the same too??
Almost 12 years ago in college I had a bad reaction to an antibiotic that I was taking at the time for acne. I had health anxiety for 4 years before this happened.
I got super tired and out of breath all the time just walking around campus, so I went to the nurse clinic and they did a CBC to check my blood counts and they were all low. The nurse actually started freaking out and they referred me back to me GP during spring break the next week. By the time my GP checked my counts had all gone back up except my white count, which stayed semi-low at around 3.2. He referred me to a local hematologist. I followed up with him for almost a year and nothing changed, so I started to worry less about it. Finally did a bone marrow biopsy before I moved away from him and he saw that everything was normal, just not as many pre-cursor cells to make new cells which is why the count was low. He chalked it up to a one-in-a-million allergy reaction to the antibiotic and that everything was fine otherwise, go on with my life.
Of course this whole time I was imagining all the terrible things this could be, was I mis-diagnosed, etc. But I actually stayed pretty calm during the whole thing which amazed me. My counts actually eventually got back to normal but it took a few years. I just recently had one come back low again after about 6 years of normal so that's currently freaking me out - but I also had a cold so I'm just being re-checked again in a few weeks.
What I've learned is when something actually happens I still freak out, but I can manage it somehow. I don't completely blow up - I just focus on the problem and how to fix it.
"I know this won't be the case for everyone, but my HA seems more fear of uncertainty."
Bingo.
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